Post by matt on Sept 3, 2019 11:45:55 GMT
One other upgrade I forgot to mention - the lights. I am trying "strip" LEDs this year, to give me more LEDs in the box (and more light), with less wiring up required as a bonus. Last year I had 8 individual LEDs, each of which had to be wired up its own resistor before being controlled on/off using a transistor and the Raspberry Pi. The new setup is easier, cheaper and (I hope) better. It's just a few short lengths of self-adhesive 5V white LED strip, which I bought on eBay for £6 for 5m of strip. At 60 LEDs per metre, that is 300 LEDs, and they are already wired in parallel with a resistor each. I am using 21 LEDs from the strip in this box, which is now controlled by the Pi through a more heavily rated MOSFET transistor and, although it is hard to tell exactly, it seems to be giving quite a bit more light. I'll probably end up dimming it somewhat in use, but nice to know I have the brightness if I need it.
Here is a pic - you can't really see how well it illuminates the box, since the camera has adjusted exposure to suit the bright LEDs:
Here is a pic - you can't really see how well it illuminates the box, since the camera has adjusted exposure to suit the bright LEDs: